Mt Field West Circuit Day 2
Spectacular peaks, shining tarns and historic huts
Another spectacular campsite
Today’s hike of 13km (8mi) and 440m (1450ft) of cumulative elevation gain and 590m (1930ft) of loss comprises a 3km out-and-return from Clemes Tarn to Mt Field West, after which you retrace your steps a few hundred metres to K Col Track. This track takes you across scree to The Watcher’s hulking face, then along boardwalk to a plateau scattered with dozens of shining tarns. After crossing Newdegate Pass, you descend to the Lake’s northern outlet and its historic hut filled with memorabilia.
Next, you’ll pass by Twisted Tarn and enter subalpine woodland before reaching beautiful Twilight Tarn, with yet another terrific old hut, picturesque campsites… and a loo! It’s fantastic walking.
Hike statistics map
How to Make Today Easier:
As always, start early, because you have a decent distance to cover. Alternatively, rather than going all the way to Mt Field West, you could do a shorter out and return to Naturalist Peak, which offers similarly spectacular views to Mt Field West. You won’t save a lot of elevation gain but will save nearly 3km of distance by doing this. Or simply omit the out and return entirely. Or, if you did the out and return to Mt Field West yesterday, you have a cruisy day today!
Walk with Us:
Breakfast beside Clemes Tarn. It has been a wild night, with lots of rain and howling wind.
Geoff rarely feels the cold but here he’s wearing his beanie, puffy and even gloves! I’m wearing every layer: merino tee, wool thermal, fleece, puffy and rain shell, as well as pants and rain pants. At 1201m (3940ft), Clemes Tarn has a mean minimum temperature in the warmest month of January of just 0C (32F), whilst the nearest weather station at Maydena has a mean minimum of 9C — altitude makes a difference! And Tassie’s summer alpine cold hovering around freezing point is usually wet cold, not dry cold. Northern Hemisphere and even mainland Australian hikers often see these temperatures and misjudge the risk of wet gear and hypothemia. Don’t underestimate the potential for extreme weather in Tassie’s alpine parks!
Wiping ice from inside the tent. We were warm enough with our winter sleep system but you definitely need a good tent. The XMid Pro is an excellent tent; with a emergency hut nearby we were deliberately testing its limits and this site confirmed to us that it’s not ideal for Tassie alpine conditions due to the often lumpy, uneven terrain (imagine it on buttongrass!). For these conditions and terrain, the XMid 2 with its separate (solid) inner and outer not relying on a connecting mesh screen to shed water is, in our opinion, the better choice of the two. Alternatively, one of Tarptent’s double wall options or a freestanding tent would perform well.
We are eager to set off, not just because of the cold but because we know there is a toilet at the end of the day! We have scouted for environmentally sound toilet sites but they are non-existent even with a trowel. Even 200m away, all the water still drains into the tarn; if you were able to dig a hole of sufficient depth in the rock you would hit the water table before you hit 15cm. Yuck. The higher areas are even rockier, too rocky to dig. We definitely treated the water in this crystal clear but not so pristine tarn, and tried hard not to think of what other hikers might have done before our visit.
A week after we visited the park, a news feature heralded the sale of poo tubes at Mt Field Visitor Centre, but surprisingly they weren’t mentioned when we discussed our route and campsites with staff there; perhaps the tubes/pots were not yet available. If there’s something we can’t highlight enough, it is that even without their significant environmental benefits, a poo pot or tube will make your life much easier on this hike, especially if you’re someone with clockwork morning or evening habits. Clemes Tarn is not a place to poo!
Plenty of ice on the ground. Brrr!
Mountain rocket (Bellendena montana)
We leave the tent set up to dry while we hike the out and return to Mt Field West. With the sun out and all tent doors open, we also leave our down twin quilt to air. DCF tents heat up extremely quickly in sun and, in our experience, down bedding dries faster and more completely inside than draped over a bush outside.
Heading towards Naturalist Peak. If (ahem) you haven’t studied your map closely, you’ll likely assume Naturalist Peak is Mt Field West, but the latter is another 1500m further on, across level albeit wet ground.
Here Geoff is carrying a day pack with First Aid Kit and water. When hiking in remote areas with a day pack, or if one of us is without any pack, Geoff and I clip a PLB and Inreach respectively to our belt loop. There is no point having an emergency communicator inside a bag or in a difficult to reach spot that becomes impossible to reach when you’re lying broken on the ground!
If travelling with your partner in precipitous terrain or high risk areas, it’s really worth carrying a communicator each: if the one lying unconscious at the bottom of the cliff is the one with the comms, you might as well have no comms at all.
It’s rocky but not demanding.
A little easy scrambling.
Alpine Groundsel (Scapisenecio pectinatus)
Views east. After the South Coast Track and Frenchman’s Cap hikes immediately before this one, my body is rebelling even without a pack and maxing out the Vitamin I (Ibuprofen). Time to stop and enjoy the views just before Naturalist Peak, and wait for Geoff to do the out and return to Mt Field West. The views are pretty good from the lip of the col even before reaching the Peak, and there are sun-warmed rocks to rest against. The deep bowl-shape as seen behind me is indicative of glaciation; at one time this col was the head of a glacier. It takes a while for Geoff to return and, upon checking the map, I realise that the peak I’m looking at is not Mt Field West at all, and that he has a couple of kilometres to cover. All is well, though I confess I’m not entirely relaxed until I spot his bright tee reappearing over the ridge.
Past Naturalist Peak the terrain is easier, with Mt Field West on the horizon. You can see how few hikers venture this far, and that nearly all of them have done the right thing by sticking to the main track; there is little braiding.
Distant views today, though morning mist still lies in the lower valleys. What a difference!
Back down to Clemes Tarn with Florentine Peak just behind.
After packing up the tent, it’s time to head back to Peterson Memorial Hut. Unlike yesterday, Lake Hayes is clearly visible in the valley.
Just east of the hut, branch onto K Col Track towards The Watcher.
More scree! You can see why distances alone are so deceptive when calculating hike times in Tasmania.
Past the scree and nearing The Watcher on the right. To the left you can see Lake Hayes in the valley, with Naturalist Peak and, beyond it, Mt Field West.
A stunning posy of Mountain Gentian (Gentianella diemensis).
K Col track near The Watcher is glorious, becoming ever wetter and greener with crystal clear tarns and creeks. They are crystal clear because the track has been upgraded to primarily boardwalk, so erosion and mud are a thing of the past.
Lunch on a rock beside the track near the foot of The Watcher, looking west towards Naturalist Peak and Mt Field West. What a grand spot, and such a contrast to yesterday with its hammering rain and thick fog!
Here you can see a little rocky section without boardwalk. Geoff is loaded up, carrying two thirds of our joint pack weight so that I can make it to tonight’s destination as comfortably as possible. It’s difficult to enjoy a hike when you’re in significant discomfort, though some people are more stoic than others.
On short hikes like this, though, it’s feasible for him to be able to do this, whereas at the start of longer hikes we are already both at our comfortable limit (today, even with two thirds of our combined pack weight and with extra luxuries such as an espresso press and treats, his pack is around 14kg, mine 7kg). If you and a partner regularly hike together, and one of you has health issues, consider shorter hikes where it is possible for the stronger of the two to take a little more. Hiking equitably doesn’t mean splitting the load 50:50 unless you are both equally strong and fit.
More and more marvellous tarns.
An entire world in miniature between the rocks at our feet. It’s great to see how well this section of track is now doing.
There’s that environment-protecting boardwalk, butt-ugly but so necessary here.
Another section of scree, the last one!
Next, a steep descent to Lake Newdegate.
Rocky and rough, but with glorious views. The Tent Tarn circuit branches right at the outlet and follows the left hand side/eastern of the lake back to Rodway Tow and Mt Field West Track that we passed yesterday.
A quick detour to Lake Newdegate Hut, right at the outlet of the lake. This area has been popular for both downhill and cross-country skiing for a century or more — you’ve seen the large expanses of flatter terrain at elevation — and all the huts were used by these skiers.
Twisted Tarn is just a little lower in elevation than those we’ve passed thus far, and the vegetation reflects this with snow gums, billy pine and taller heath. Presumably also fun cross country skiing in winter!
In good weather like this, the walking in this section is delightfully varied and undemanding. It’s another story in bad weather!
Soon we arrive at Twilight Tarn. There is one established campsite beside the tarn, the others are amongst the trees. Despite this site’s sheltered appearance, it is exposed and windy today, with gusts rotoring over the ridge on the other side of the lake. Once again we deploy (and need) all upwind guylines.
It’s not possible to get the stakes all the way in so we double stake. The backup stake is a Pioneer titanium Y stake that we were sent to test and which has impressed us greatly.
More sheltered campsites between the trees near the hut and beyond them — hooray! — a loo!
Another campsite.
Twilight Tarn hut is filled with skiing memorabilia. Like the other historic huts in the park, it’s an emergency shelter only.
What a glorious campsite, one of the prettiest we’ve seen in Tassie!
Tomorrow will be an easy walk at lower altitudes and different vegetation but, for now, it’s time to sit on the edge of the tarn and enjoy the breezy ambience.
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